Lost and Found
by Scout73
Summary: Ellie has lost everything. when she comes to New York, she finds something she never expected.-Whoo Hoo I finally thought of a title!
1. The Crossing

A/N: if you hadn't noticed, this story has no title. I cannot think of one. I really need help with it. Please either review or email me if you have any ideas. Please?

CHAPTER 1- The Crossing

In all my life I never thought I would ever become a newsie. I was raised to be prim and proper by my parents Mary and Peter Orlesworth. They had grown up, married, had me, and lived happily in England their whole lives. But then they opportunity to go to America came up. It didn't take us long to decide that America was perfect for us. We hopped on the next ship to the land of opportunity and we were on our way. Unfortunately, the ship did not make it to America. It was blown off course, and ran across a large, sharp rock that was jutting out of the water much farther from land then it should have. The captain overcorrected the ship and shot us deeper into the ocean before he realized that that would condemn us all to death. The ship went down. Very few survived. I was one of the lucky ones who lived. When we heard that the ship was going down, I stripped off all of my heavy petticoats and corsets and grabbed only what would be useful. Why didn't I try to save my parents? I did. Dear God I did. But I got separated from them. We were running down the hall with just about everyone grabbed me and started carrying me. Before I came to my senses and looked back for my parents, they were nowhere to be seen. The person who had been carrying me threw me into one of the lifeboats. I looked back at him and realized that it was my father. I was overjoyed to find out that he was okay, but as he started to lower the lifeboat into the water as he stood on the deck of the ship, I knew that he meant to leave me. I started to cry but got a brutal wake up call when I realized that I was the oldest one in the boat. I looked around at the other passengers to determine that most of them had to be between the ages of three and eleven. I myself was sixteen. They all looked at me with huge, sad, crying eyes and I knew that they had been through the same thing as me. A fishing boat finally found us and brought us back to our original destination. New York City.

A/N: wow that was short. The chapters do get longer I promise. But this one just kind of gives a little history before we start the actual story. If you don't understand the first sentence, just keep reading and you'll get it as the chapters go on. Please R&R! 

~Scout and my muses~


	2. Ya Gotta Eat

A/N: I still haven't thought of a title. In regards to the actual story, I think I may have switched tenses a little bit. But I have a habit of doing that. So please just bear with me, and if its really annoying you, just review or email me and I'll do my best to fix it for you.

CHAPTER 2- "Ya Gotta Eat"

"Passport?" the tall man wearing a blue police uniform asked in a thick New York accent. 

"Uh, I don't have it. It was in my bag, and my bag was on the S.S. Virginia, which sank." after looking my over for a second or two, the police officer waved me on. Onto where, I really had no clue. I had no money, no clothes but the little on my back, no food, no family, and nowhere to go. My whole life had sunk with the S.S. Virginia. I heard coughing from behind me and turned around to see who what coughing. A young boy, about ten, was standing there holding a newspaper in his outstretched hand.

"Buy me last pape, miss?" I looked down on him with sad, caring eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Les"

"How old are you?" his eyes darted nervously around until they landed on a tall blonde boy.

"Uh, seven" he looked up at me pathetically, hoping I would buy his line.

"Don't lie Les, it doesn't make you the least bit honorable." I was starting to sound like my mother. Les just shrugged and said plainly,

"Ya gotta eat" as he turned around and scurried over to the blonde boy who was now standing with a slightly shorter brown curly-haired boy.

__

"Ya gotta eat" 

I stood there watching the boys sell for a second or two and decided what I had to do. I finally got up the courage and took the first step towards them. I quickened my pace to a sprint, whizzing by them and grabbing their money out of their hands. I ran as fast as I could and for as far as I could, but these boys were fast. Well, actually, only the blonde one was fast, for the brown-haired one was slow and had poor form. I ducked into an alleyway in hopes he wouldn't find me. Well let me tell you one thing, never underestimate the street smarts of American boys. He realized right away and blocked me into the alley.

"Its not nice to steal from hard woikin' boys such as myself and my pal Dave 'ere." by this time, the one that the blonde boy had called Dave, had caught up. He was panting heavily and looked as if he was going to throw up. I laughed a little on the inside at him. I looked down at the small leaver pouch filled with coins that I held in my hand and tossed it back to him. 

"Why thank you! Now, if you need money, there are betta ways to get it than robbing two poor street rats." I narrowed my eyes at the greasy-haired boy and said,

"I don't take charity. I can fend for myself." he let out a hearty laugh as he looked around then finally to me.

"You won't take our charity, but you have no problem wit takin' our money?" I rolled my eyes and tried to push past him. He was stronger than he looked and "brushing past" him was more difficult than I had figured.

"I'm Jack" I was not in the mood for pleasantries. I flicked him a thumbs up walked away. 

"Hey! What's your name?" I rolled my head back so I was looking up into the cloudy sky, and wheeled around. I met his eyes and said,

"Ellie Orlesworth" he nodded thoughtfully as I walked away as if I actually had somewhere to go, and that I knew exactly where that was. I just kept walking until he was completely out of sight. I leaned against a building wall and opened up my clenched fist. Inside, there was a nice shiny nickel that I had carefully removed from Jack's pouch. But now the question was, how was I going to get that nickel to grow. I needed a job. I didn't particularly want to work in a factory, because I had heard that American factories were of much poorer quality than the ones back in England. So what other jobs were there? Other things came to mind, but the only thing that stuck was to become a newsie. It looked decent, but that would mean I would have to let Jack know that I really did need his help. Which I don't. Really. 


	3. New York Has Turned Communist

A/N: Ahhh three chapters in two days! I'm proud of myself. I even did it without any help from my good-for-nothing muses…damn muses…they're no help what so ever. I don't know why I keep them around anyway…

CHAPTER 3- New York Has Turned Communist

I saw the boys I had "met" the day before walking down the street at 8:30 a.m. I decided to follow them to see where they got their papers. Eventually they were joined by many more boys of all shapes, sizes, and ages. I took the nickel out of my pocket and held it tightly in my fist. I put the most defensive and stubborn look on my face that I could muster and marched towards the building where the newsies were getting their papers from. One of the boys, a short one with curly red hair, spotted me first. He tapped Jack on the shoulder and pointed to me. Jack started smiling and laughing a little before he called out, 

"Well if it ain't miss Ellie Orlesworth!" he said my name in the best British accent he could manage, which was actually not too bad. I narrowed my eyes and tightened my lips as I marched straight up to him. I stopped only about three inches away from him. For the first time, I realized how much shorter than him I was. My eyes only reached his chin. Therefore, I had to look up at him, which made my position a lot less intimidating than I had meant it to be.

"Yes, its Ellie Orlesworth. What is it to you?" obviously Jack didn't take me seriously as I glared up at him. He just kept laughing. Very annoying.

"Ah, nothing! I was jist wonderin' what you was doin' 'ere"

"I'm here to buy my papers, and sell them. Just like you."

"Okay, okay! don't gotta get snippy 'bout it now!" I just rolled my eyes and walked up to the window.

"How many papers can I buy with five cents?" I asked the old man behind the window.

"10 papes" he said as I dropped my nickel on the counter. He reached over and plopped the stack of papers onto the counter. I picked them up and slung them over my shoulder as I started to walk out the gate. I looked at one of the papers to see what I should be yelling, and I couldn't find anything interesting. So I just started yelling the headline on the front page:

Russian Ambassador Visits Mayor

I started to listen to the other cries of the newsies, and I noticed something. Nothing they said was in the paper. I turned around and saw Jack ambling over to me. _Oh God here we go again._ I thought. I pretended not to notice him, so maybe he would go away. I just kept yelling my headline until he just stood behind me and started to talk.

"You nevah gonna sell any papes dat way. You gotta…"

"Improve the truth a little" said the Dave from behind Jack. They both chuckled a little so I just assumed that it was some inside joke.

"Instead of yellin' 'Russian Ambassador Visits Mayor', you gotta think a somethin' a little more creative." I took his advice, and decided on my "improved headline".

"MAYOR TRIES TO TURN NEW YORK INTO COMMUNIST COUNTRY!" I wasn't raised this way. I really wasn't. I wasn't raised to steal and lie. But who really cared what I was raised like? Right now I just needed money, and this was the only way I could think to get it was to do this. After that ship sank, along with everything else in my life, my morals were dragged under as well. 


	4. Meeting the Guys

A/N: w00t! w00t! Another chapter! Go me! Lol. I'd like to thank all my many reviewers…all two of them. Lol. 

Shout-outs:

Teepot- Maybe Jack will be the love interest…maybe not. Oh who am I kidding, it's going to be Jack. Thanks for reviewing!

Repeats-thanks!

CHAPTER 4-The Ex

"Uh, Ellie? You got somewhere to stay tonight?" Jack asked me after I had finished selling my last paper.

"Well, that alley over there was looking mighty comfortable" we both chuckled. I came to the conclusion that Jack wasn't such a bad guy after all. I had spent the day selling with him, and he's a lot more interesting and smart than you'd think. He told me some useful things about how to ration my money, and he even lent me some money since it was hard to ration ten cents.

"Well why don't you sleep in da lodgin house tanite? Kloppman will probably set up a mattress in the backroom for ya. Its only two cents a night, but Kloppman will let you stay for free if you don't got the money for a night. He ain't the kinda guy to just throw you out." Jack really didn't want me to sleep in an alley. I narrowed my eyes slightly and looked him over to make sure he was telling the truth.

"Sure. I could use a nice bed for a night." 

"Great! Now, lets head to Tibby's n I'll intraduce ya to da guys."

~*~

"Ey guys, dis is Ellie. She's gonna stay at da lodgin house tanite" I smiled as I looked them all over.

"Ellie, dats Kid Blink, Mush, and Racetrack over dere, and Snitch, Skittery, Specs, Itey, n Dutchy at dat table, Pie-Eater, Snoddy, Bumlets, Jake, Crutchy over dere, and the little kids at the counter are Snipeshooter and Boots." Each boy nodded or gave a little wave as Jack introduced them. We sat down and ate lunch. Then we headed to the lodging house. When we got there, all the boys piled up the stairs and around the corner into what I assumed was the bunkroom. Jack and I waited in the main hall for an old man wearing a brown bowler hat.

"Ey Kloppman. Gotta new goil sellin', I was wonderin' if you could help 'er out." Jack asked the man. 

"Oh, I think we can figure something out" he said as he winked at Jack. That only made me feel more suspicious. But then I came to a resolution. I was going to trust them. Whatever happened, I was going to trust them until they betrayed me. What did it matter anyway, because I really didn't have anything to lose anymore. But I really hoped they would betray me, because I was starting to like the whole lot of them. When we had everything straightened out, a cot set up, and I had paid rent, Jack and I went up to the bunkroom to join the other guys. When we walked in, they were all in the same groups that they were at Tibby's except there was one boy that I didn't recognize. He was sitting with Kid Blink, Mush, and Racetrack but stood up and walked over to Jack and I. The two boys spit in their hands and shook, making me wrinkle my nose in girlish disgust.

"Ellie, dis is Spot" the short skinny boy gave a crooked smile as he bowed to me.

"Spot, dis is Ellie. She's gonna be sellin' wit me." I curtsied to Spot. He looked me over thoughtfully and said,

"She ya new goil Cowboy?" We both protested at once, but neither of us could manage to think of a complete sentence. So we just sort of babbled incoherently until we just started laughing at each other. Spot just rolled his eyes and walked back to his friends on the other side of the room mumbling something about how me and Jack were definitely a perfect match. Making us laugh harder, even though none of it was really all that funny. Jack decided to join Spot, Blink, Mush, and Race.

"Spot helped us out last year. He's da leadah a Brooklyn" Specs, who was standing behind me, explained.

"Helped you out with what?" I asked.

"Da strike a course" what Jack didn't tell ya? Dat's why Spot sounded so surprised. He thought Jack was still wit Sarah."

"Sarah? Who's Sarah?" I asked, already knowing the answer though I still wanted to know more about her.

"Oh, Dave's oldah sis. Dey hooked up at da end a da strike. Big make-out session in da street. Jack n Sarah, not Dave n Sarah. Jack dumped 'er bout, eh, two weeks latah. Said she was too air headed. N dat has to be pretty damn air headed, for Jack to be sayin dat, seein' he's not exactly da sharpest pencil in da drawer eidda." we both chuckled and Specs left me to think about all of this. Jack Made out with some girl in the street then broke up with her two weeks later? Did he really go through girls that quickly? How long would it take before he disposed of me? Wait, me? I am not goin out with him! I would never! I wonder what could have possibly caused that thought to pop into my head. I didn't even like him in that romantic way. Nope. He's just a friend. And that's all. Nothing more. Honestly, I do not have a thing for Jack Kelly.


	5. New Faces and New Experiences

A/N: Woo! Another chapter! I feel so excited. You should be too!…this is my longest chapter yet…its also the most interesting. =D. shout-outs at the end of the chapter.

CHAPTER 5-New Faces and New Things

"Hey Jack! Guess who's getting outta da refuge taday!" Race said with great enthusiasm.

"Flare's getting out? That's great Race!" Jack commended his friend.

"Who's Flare?" I whispered to Jack.

"Oh, she's Race's goil. She's been in da refuge for a month. Da warden's been aftah 'er ever since she lit 'is hat on fire. It was great." Jack said with a smile. I smiled back at him and for a brief moment, we seemed to be lost in each others gazes. But then I looked away…because I am not supposed to like Jack. Nope. 

"She must be quite a girl Race." I said turning to him.

"Oh, she is. She's da most beautiful, fun, smart…" Race announced dreamily as he continued bouncing around the room. Jack and I laughed at him.

"is she a newsie?" I asked Jack, since Race was way too preoccupied with his dancing.

"Yeah, she useda woik at Medda's, dats how da two met. Race spent an awful lotta time ovah dere." I giggled and we all filed out of the lodging house for another day of selling. The day went by like it always did, completely uneventful. We didn't even go to Tibby's for lunch. We went back to the lodging house to welcome Flare back. When we got there, we should have knocked. Race was in the middle of a full-out make-out session with a short, brown-haired girl that I assumed was Flare. Itey sure stopped that though. He ran into the bunkroom screaming at the top of his lungs and flailing his arms everywhere. Nobody really knows why he did it, he just did. Race and Flare immediately backed off of each other, and were standing looking at us trying to be innocent, but suppressing laughter the whole time. 

"Naughty, naughty, naughty!" Itey lectured as he shook his finger at the two. Itey is so weird sometimes. 

"Uh, Flare, dis is Ellie." Race said, introducing me. "She's Jack's new goil" he whispered so that he thought I couldn't hear, but that boy has really got to work on his whispering.

"Shut it Race!" Jack yelled, but I could hear in his voice that he didn't really mind it too much. Jack walked away to talk to someone else, because sometimes I swear he has some attention problem. He can never stay talking to the same person for over five minutes if other people are around. I stayed and decided to get to know Flare a little better.

"So, do you live here at the lodging house?" I asked her.

"No, I live with Medda. She didn't like the fact that one of her workers was sleeping on the streets." Flare said without one hint of a New York accent. She must have been from somewhere else like me.

"Are you from New York?" I asked, simply wanting to know where this brown-haired green-eyed girl was from.

"No, I'm from Chicago" she looked uneasy for a second, but then Race grabbed her hand and she smiled again.

"How did you get into the refuge?" maybe that would explain her name.

"Which time?" she asked giggling. I wondered what Racetrack was doing with his free hand.

"Uh…how many times have you been in there?"

"Four"

"Oh"

"Snyder's been keeping a grudge against me ever since I set his hat on fire. The guy just can't take a decent escape tactic!" Race and Flare giggled and headed to the only empty corner of the room left.

"Hey guys! Lets head ovah to Tibby's for some lunch and celebrate Flare's return!" Jack shouted to everyone in the room. Most of the guys agreed.

"Uh, Jack, we'se gonna stay here a little bit n maybe meet ya there a little later" Race said from his and Flare's corner.

"Race, you gotta come! Its for _your _girlfriend!"

"Well, if she ain't goin, den neither am I!"

"Well, she's gotta go too. Cuz its _for _her!" there was so much yelling going on. I just walked out of the bunkroom and waited for Jack in the lobby. Jack finally came down, after all the other guys had already left. He looked frustrated, and was shaking his head. He smiled at me dopily as he descended the stairs. We then walked to Tibby's to meet everyone else.

After we had all already eaten Race and Flare walked through the door. They were still holding hands but seemed to have calmed down a little bit. Neither was wearing a crazy grin anymore, but they still looked happy. for the first time I noticed that she was actually _shorter _than Race. If you can imagine someone _that _short. *Author ducks from flying rocks being thrown by Repeats and any other Race-enthusiast* Flare and Race took a seat next to Jack and I and ordered their food. We talked for a little while until they were done, and then headed out to sell the afternoon edition.

~*~

"I'll be right back Ellie, I just gotta use da bathroom" Jack said to me about halfway through selling our afternoon editions. I nodded at him and continued selling. When he was no longer in sight, I felt a tap on my shoulder . I turned around and there standing was a boy, about Jack's age, with hi hat tipped. I eyed him defensively though he had not done or said anything to offend me yet. 

"Well good aftahnoon sweet face. Shouldn't you be inside bein' pampahed?" now he had. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.

"Some girls have to work to live" I said as I turned and walked as fast as I could in the other direction, but I walked straight into another boy. This one looked older, bigger, stronger, and stupider. I mustered up all the strength I could and shoved this one out of the way. I guess I'm stronger than I thought, because I actually managed to shove him out of my way. Just then I heard his voice. Probably the first time I had actually sighed from relief when I heard his voice. 

"Can't leave my goils alone can ya Oscah" Jack called from about ten feet away. Hehe, he called me "his goil". oh, right, back to the conversation.

"Damnit Cowboy! Why you always get da good ones?" Oscar kept approaching me, while the other one held me tightly by my arms. I lifted my knee high up into the air and kicked straight back. He didn't enjoy that too much. At the same time, Jack came running up and punched Oscar hard in the face. Both of the scum were laying on the ground writhing in pain. Jack made sure I was okay then we ran to an alley far away. There we sat panting and laughing at the same time. When we had finally caught our breaths, I turned my head to look at Jack, just to see that he was already looking at me. A small smile swept across my face, mimicking the one on his. He slowly, almost cautiously, leaned in and his lips lightly touched mine. I didn't know what to do. Thought I was sixteen, I had never been kissed nor had a boyfriend. In England, most girls were not allowed to date anyone unless her father had given his consent. Jack slowly pulled away and looked deep into my surprised eyes.

"I'm…I'm sorry Ellie. I couldn't help myself" he apologized, nervously looking down at his fidgeting hands. 

"Don't be" I said as I leaned into him and kissed him back. It was a nice, long, sweet kiss; one we had both wanted since we had laid eyes on each other. Okay, so when I said I didn't like him, I lied. Something about him kept me following him. Now we just sat there quietly thinking.

"Who were those guys?" I asked after a few minutes.

"Oh, dose are da Delancy Bruddas. Dey like givin da newsies a hard time. Dey useda woik at da Distribution Center, but they got fired at da end a da strike." he explained.

"Oh. What did you mean by 'Your girls'?" I asked, trying not to sound too anxious.

"Well, when I was datin' Dave's sistah Sarah, they tried to do the same thing to her. But she couldn't fight back as well as you did. I had to come in and beat both of them up. She just kinda sat there, yelling at them to stop while they were beatin' up Dave."

I nodded understandingly. "did you love her?" I asked impulsively.

"Nah. I only dated 'er because I got caught up in the whole strike thing. Not to mention she was the only goil I had talked to besides Medda." he laughed a little but then became very sullen.

"What's wrong?" I asked looking into his eyes.

"I don't lover her, but I do love somebody else" I looked at him questioningly.

"I think you know her" _Flare. He has a thing for Flare. One of his best friend's girlfriend! _I thought. He must have known what I was thinking because he laughed a little.

"No, not Flare. You." I smiled and he held my hand in his own strong, warm one. I leaned against him and we just sat there, enjoying being in love.

Shout-outs: 

NaughteeLady- so I guess pigs don't fly huh? Thanks for reviewing! I hope you liked the chapter!

If you reviewed and I never gave you a shout-out, feel free to email or IM me, and I'll try and fix it. Currently, fanfiction.net is being a poop and not sending me my review alerts.


	6. Nothing Can Stay Perfect

A/N: yeah…another short chapter. I dunno what I'm gonna do with myself…every chapter could very well be the end, but that's not a good ending! Everything all, happy and lovey-dovey. Nope. Not my thing. Hope you're not too made at me for dragging this on so long with such short chapters…

Disclaimer: I don't think I ever put a disclaimer on this story…well here it is and it applies to this chapter, all previous chapters, and all following chapters. I don't own Newsies. In fact, I own very little. So please, no suing me!

Shout-outs!

Blue Boxer- yeah, I really hate Sarah. I love to tease my Ellie!muse and my Jack!muse. 

CHAPTER 6- Nothing Can Stay Perfect

"Whoa, look who's finally a couple! Nevah thought dat would happen!" Race exclaimed sarcastically when Jack and I walked into the bunkroom holding hands.

"Ahhh, dey ain't gonna be makin' out all da time like Flare 'n' Race, are dey?" Snipeshooter complained while dodging the pillow thrown by Race. The days went by exceptionally well. I really loved being a newsie. I wanted to stay here, being independent from rules but still having my best friends along side of me. Flare and I had become good friends, being the only two girls that were at the lodging house regularly. I had become good friends with the guys as well. How could I not? I lived with them, sold with them, ate with them, did basically everything with them. Everything was going perfect, and everyone knows that nothing can stay perfect.

~*~

"Letter for Miss Eleanor Orlesworth." the messenger said to Kloppman.

"Oh, I'll take that. She's upstairs" Kloppman answered as the messenger nodded and handed him the piece of folded white paper.

"Ellie!" he called up the stairs. I heard him, and walked down the stairs. He held the paper out to me and walked back to his desk. I opened it up and stood there gawking as I read it. There, printed in black type-written ink, was this:

****

ELINOR ORLESWORTH IS TO TAKE THE S.S.HAWTON BACK TO ENGLAND. SHE WILL BE ESCORTED BY TWO OF MEREDETH BLAKELY'S PERSONAL GUARDS UNTIL SHE REACHES THE CARE OF MISS MEREDITH BLAKELY HERSELF. THE ESCORTS WILL BE ARRIVING ON FEBRUARY 12, 1900.

No. I loved it here. I couldn't leave. I was so shaken that I didn't even notice Jack was standing behind me. 

"Ellie? Ellie what is it? Are you alright?" he asked concernedly. I turned around and collapsed into him in tears. He held me until I was able to speak, then he asked me what he was wondering.

"Ellie, who's da letter from? What does it say?" he placed his hand on my red, swollen cheek and gently stroked it.

"It was from my aunt. She is demanding that I go and live with her. In England." I choked out before I burst into tears again. Jack pressed my head against his chest and resting his head on mine. 

"I don't want to go. She's all the way in England! How can she get me to go?" I sobbed, mainly to myself. When I finally got a hold of myself, (again) Jack held my face in his hands.

"Go wit 'er. It'll be bettah for ya. Even if you don't want it, it'll woik out." I wasn't expecting that. He was supposed to hatch a crazy scheme to keep me here. I looked at him with a look that was right between confused and hurt. I wriggled free of his arms and ran up the staircase he was not blocking. This staircase led up to the roof, and this way I didn't have to pass through the bunkroom. I sat on the edge of the roof, unsafely dangling my legs off the edge. A few minutes later, I heard the metal door open and shut and slow footsteps coming towards me. Jack sat down next to me, but I looked away from him.

"Ellie. I ain't tryin to hoit ya. I love you so much and I'm gonna die when you leave, but ya gotta leave. If you don't you'll regret it. I know I did." he added the last sentence quietly. I looked at him, puzzled, waiting for an explanation. 

"My parents, well lets just say dey weren't exactly da parentin' type. But my uncle was. He owned a ranch out west. In Santa Fe. He invited me to go live wit 'im, but I said no. I had just become a newsie, and I was lovin' it. But after a while, it got old. I wished that I could go out west, but I was pretty sure my uncle didn't want me anymore. He had a family, money- no need fer a fifteen year-old boy wit no skills at all. So I stayed 'ere. I wished everyday dat I could go to Santa Fe, but then about, t'ree months before da strike, I got woid dat my uncle n his entire family had been killed. I nevah told anyone dat, and kept up da hope of goin' to Santa Fe. When I finally got da chance to go, I had nothing to go to." I was speechless. You could never tell by looking at him that he had been through so much trauma and tragedy.

"I'm…I…oh, Jack!" I embraced him in a tight hug. I just wanted all of our problems to go away. Just be taken away in the crisp fall chill.


End file.
